To manage an NBA team can be an intricate affair, and not every one will always agree with coaching decisions. But in Sacramento, it appears players are having a hard time understanding head coach Keith Smart’s approach to running the Kings.

The Kings have young talent, yet they have managed to underperform in the face of already-low expectations, with star DeMarcus Cousins’ maturation off schedule and Tyreke Evans’ role still in limbo. So, player development has been a problem in Sacramento, but Smart’s decision making remains most puzzling.

A highlight of those head-scratching moves came in Cousins playing nine minutes in a 117-108 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Another came when shooting guard Marcus Thornton scored 21 points in 22 minutes one night but played only 5:37 the next. Point guard Isaiah Thomas, one of the great surprises of 2011-12, has found that Smart’s judgment can adversely affect players’ ability to perform.

“It's just tough as a player,” Thomas said Friday. “I always say that when you have inconsistent minutes, you're going to have inconsistent production.

“It's nothing we can control. It's how coach Smart likes to coach and you just got to go with it and always be ready at all times, because you never really know when you're going to go in the game or come out.”

But that unpredictability on the bench can breed similar behaviors on the court. Where the right play might be the easier option, a player who makes his living in basketball could find it more prudent to use whatever allotted time he has as a personal showcase.

Too often in Sacramento, that appears to be the case. Using numbers as an indication, no Kings player averages more than 3.8 assists per game and only Jason Thompson shoots better than 50 percent from the field.

“A little bit, it’s a little frustrating,” Evans said when asked if he’s Smart’s rotations had affected him. “Everybody’s frustrated. This is the NBA and when the rotation don’t go right for us, we’ve got to be professional. We’ve got to learn to hear our coach. If he don’t make the right subs with somebody, you can’t be mad. Whoever’s out there just got to work.”

At times, it can be tough to discern why certain players or groups are out there. For example, as Cowbell Kingdom pointed out, Patrick Patterson, Travis Outlaw and James Johnson were paired on the floor in the fourth quarter of a close game against Dallas.

That’s another instance of Smart over-coaching, and for a young team, that trait can either help guide them or become off-putting. It seems to be the latter in Sacramento, and it could cost Smart.